Most chewing gums, including bubble gums, contain a generally water-insoluble gum base, water-soluble sweeteners that are either natural or artificial, and a flavoring that may be added in a variety of forms. Also, the gum may contain various additives such as plasticizers, softeners and bulking agents to improve consistency and to generally enhance the chewing experience.
It has become desirable to develop chewing gums and bubble gums containing plural diverse flavor components, to offer a flavor variation and overall flavor extension during the chew. Several efforts have been made to prepare chewing gums having diverse flavors by the encapsulation or entrapment of at least one of the flavors or flavoring agents. Such products have generally been unable to offer desirable flavor intensity of the respective flavor components, and accurate transition between the respective flavors.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,205,075 is directed to chewing gums containing edible materials such as nonpareil seeds. The seeds may be flavored by coating them with a thin layer of flavoring followed by the addition of another sugar layer followed by the addition of a further flavoring layer, etc. The procedure is continued until the seeds are of the desired size. According to this patent, slab chewing gums may be prepared having different flavors while preventing admixture of the flavors thereby preserving each flavor separate from the other until such time as the gum is chewed. For example, one flavor may be added to the gum base while another flavor may be incorporated into the seeds. In addition a blend of seeds containing different flavors may be dispersed throughout the gum base.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,744 to Ogawa et al purports to offer a chewing gum having flavor variability achieved by forming a plurality of flavor composites prepared in granular form with certain high molecular weight compounds, both water-insoluble and water-soluble, which may thereafter be incorporated into a chewing gum base. Ogawa et al purport to achieve sequential flavor delivery by the modulation of the coating applied to the respective flavor particles. The flavors in Ogawa et al are added at the same stage of gum processing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,847 also to Ogawa et al is cumulative in its disclosure with the earlier mentioned patent, as it likewise relates to the encapsulation of flavoring with high molecular weight materials such as those mentioned earlier. In other respects, however, Ogawa et al utilizes the same preparation and offers the same possibility for products so prepared.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,849 to Marmo et al addresses the concept of extended flavor release and offers a full discussion of the prior art on this subject. The patent directs itself to the preparation of separate flavor components identified as "fixed" (encapsulated) and "unfixed", which are mixed with a suspension agent prior to their addition to a chewing gum base. The patentees contend that this method of preparation and addition to the chewing gum offers improved flavor intensity and uniform flavor transmission in the instance where plural diverse flavors are utilized. The patentees specifically employ a non-confined hydrophobic flavor oil and a "fixed" hydrolytically releasable flavor oil in combination with a solid suspending agent, as their flavor system. The preparation of the flavors is such that the resulting system is added simultaneously to the gum base.
In similar fashion, U.S. Pat. No. 4,001,438 also to Marmo et al discloses a flavor composition utilizing a non-confined flavor oil in combination with a flavor oil physically entrapped within solid particles, and a suspending agent combined therewith. All of these ingredients are premixed and thereafter simultaneously added to the product to be flavored. It is significant that the flavor system of this patent is predicated upon an intimate admixture between the non-confined flavor oil and the entrapped flavor oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,355, also to Marmo et al is effectively cumulative upon the earlier issued Marmo et al patents, in that it teaches the preliminary combination or admixture of a non-confined flavor oil and entrapped flavor oil and a suitable suspending agent. In the '355 patent, the respective flavors are prepared with a cellulosic suspending agent and are thereafter mixed, and the resulting flavor composite is thereafter added to the chewing gum, tobacco etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,485,118 is directed to a gum composition and method of making the same. The composition contains a sequentially releaseable plural flavor system comprised of different flavors. One of the flavors is encapsulated within a water-insoluble coating. A separate liquid flavor is introduced individually and is available for immediate release. The liquid flavor component is prepared from a flavor other than that of the encapsulated flavor component and other flavor components are separately added to the gum base. The patent states that these gum compositions offer improved flavor intensity and clarity of flavor transition, as well as overall extension of the flavor sensation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,075 is directed to a flavor/sweetener delivery system and to chewing gum composition prepared therefrom. The delivery system comprises flavor and/or sweetening agents encapsulated in a matrix. The delivery system delivers the flavor and/or sweetener very slowly over a long period of time when chewed in a chewing gum composition. The chewing gum compositions containing the delivery system may contain other flavors and/or sweeteners which may be added in a traditional conventional manner during processing and which are relased quickly and immediately upon chewing, to give an initial burst of flavor.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,288 is directed to a method of preparing a chewing gum composition. In the method a premixture of lecithin and a liquid flavor is made and then added to a chewing gum composition. It is disclosed that the addition of the liquid flavor/lecithin premix mitigates and substantially reduces bitterness or harsh off-notes common with certain flavors. According to this patent, additional flavoring agents may be employed separately and in addition to the flavoring in the premix.
British Pat. No. 1,327,761 to Smith et al discloses a compound encapsulation of a flavoring, wherein a first water-soluble encapsulant is applied to the flavor and a second water-insoluble encapsulant is thereafter applied. The water-insoluble encapsulant is critically identified as having a melting point substantially below that of the water-soluble encapsulating material, to provide the desired qualities of the product. There is no disclosure in the British Patent, however, of the preparation of gum compositions having plural flavors offering time controlled variant flavor release characteristics.
The art has simply failed to recognize that it is possible to make a chewing gum composition having sequentially releasable favoring aents by the sole use of non-confined flavoring agents having different solubilities and hence different rates of release. Such a composition would be a welcome contribution to the art and such a contribution is provided by this invention.